Current mobile devices use a variety of different navigation mechanisms. Touchscreen panels are navigated by means of direct contact with screen. Other devices make use of trackball devices where a mechanical signal is translated into position data to enable the navigation to occur. A further navigation device makes use of a multi-click joystick to enable the necessary navigation. There are problems associated with each of the currently available navigation mechanisms. For example, the touchscreen panel has shown been shown to be somewhat unreliable, while the trackball and joystick may also be unreliable as well as relatively expensive to implement.
For larger scale computer devices optical mice have been used for some time for navigation purposes. These devices are generally too large and impractical for mobile applications due to ergonomic and economic issues. In addition, miniaturization of the typical optical mice has not been successful.
There is a need in the art to overcome at least some of the problems associated with the prior art.
There is further a need in the art to apply optical mouse technology to the mobile domain.